Published on November 11, 2015 by CMDR Chloe Wootten (author), POIS Phil Cullinan (photographer), St. John Paul II College (photographer)

Sue Cougar and Helena Rathouski with daughter Nikolina make a donation to Lucy Cambridge and Paris Morris from St. John Paul College II, Nicholls, as they sell poppies and badges for Remebrance Day in the Gungahlin Market Place.

Each Remembrance Day, the nation pauses to mark the anniversary of the guns of the Western Front falling silent after more than four years continuous warfare on 11 November 1918. The red poppies of the Western Front have become synonymous with remembrance and a symbol to remember all those who have died or suffered wars and armed conflicts.

On Saturday, 7 November, the City of Sydney’s namesake warship was decommissioned at a ceremony at her homeport of Garden Island, Sydney. HMAS Sydney was farewelled from the Royal Australian Navy by her Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander David Murphy, along with 130 crew members and nearly 800 guests, including the Governor‑General and Minister for Defence.

Stock image: Members of HMAS Sydney's ships company pay their respects as they march past the Martin Place Cenotaph, Sydney, during the 2011 Anzac Day Morning March.

Up to 350 current and former sailors and officers from Sydney’s own warship, HMAS Sydney, will parade up Macquarie Street in the city this Friday, 6 November. Officers and sailors will march through the main street with swords drawn, bayonets fixed, band playing and colours flying.

The launch of a major new warship is a significant day for the Navy and the nation.
The 7000-tonne destroyer is 75 per cent complete and will now undergo several months of fit out of her sensors and weapons in preparation for her acceptance trials. Only when they are completed and passed will Navy commission her into the Fleet as HMAS Hobart.

The first of Navy’s new destroyers, NUSHIP Hobart, got to 'feel the water' as she was launched at the ASC shipyard in Adelaide on 23 May.

New graduate, Midshipman Alexandra Morthorpe, with her father Captain Ainsley Morthorpe, a member of the first class to graduate from ADFA.

On 11 December, 220 midshipmen and officer cadets graduated from the Australian Defence Force Academy. For one midshipman, graduation marked the start of a career that will have her following in her father's footsteps.